Today I have a book to show kids they can effect change. This story delves into two topics, the ability of students to use their voices to fight for their beliefs as well as the issue of what books should be in a library. Gratz blew me away this year with his book Refugee, and while this book is absolutely in a different vein, it is also showing kids how their experiences matter.

Don’t forget to follow One Great Book on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or by email so that you don’t miss a single story that will have your kids searching through your old book collections looking for those stories you devoured as a kid, but that now are “questionable”. We were a wild generation. Who knew?

Title: Ban This Book

Author: Alan Gratz

Target: Grade 3-7

Series: No

What this book is about:

Amy Anne is distraught when she goes to her school library to check out her favorite book, From the Mixed-up Giles of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and it has been removed from the shelves. In fact, as more and more books start disappearing, Amy Anne becomes more and more concerned. She and some friends start collecting these banned books and Amy Anne begins to distribute them from her locker. But who really gets to decide what kids read?

Why I love this book:

I love the author Alan Gratz and his novel doesn’t disappoint. Kids will be caught up in the story and be rooting for Amy Anne as she works to find her voice. Reader’s thinking will also be challenged as they begin to decide what really is appropriate for kids and what they should have access to.

I like how Gratz handled the arguments against banning books. As the librarian adeptly says, “every parent has the right to decide what their child can and can’t read. What they cannot do is make that decision for everyone else.” I also appreciated that he did not vilify the parent who was upset over the books. He made her well-meaning and multidimensional with good deeds to her credit.

Kids may very well start to get curious about all the books mentioned. Gratz has selected titles that have been challenged or banned in an American library at least once in the last thirty years.

Who this book is for:

Great for kids who like realistic fiction. If your kids like Andrew Clements books this one should be a good fit.

Final thoughts:

Nice touch that the main character is a young black girl. I enjoy seeing more children of color as main characters in books.

To purchase this book:

Click on the following link to connect to Amazon: Ban This Book. A portion of each purchase will go to support this blog at no cost to you. Thank you for your support.